Vigor of Twelve is a play off of the fact that Jesus had twelve disciples. It is a name that helps stress an importance on discipleship. This blog is specifically geared for younger people and mature Christians who don't mind a fresh, bold, and blunt approach to faith. Comments welcome, let's begin the discussion!

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Friday, February 10, 2012

Acts 5:29-32

Peter
and the rest of the apostles answer the Sanhedrin’s charges. They say that they must obey God and not
mankind. They do acknowledge that it was
the Sanhedrin who called for the crucifixion of Jesus, but that God – the God
of the patriarchs – raised Jesus back to life.
They also say that all of this was to open the door for genuine
repentance of sins and then for the forgiveness of sins. Finally, they conclude by affirming that they
are a witness to these things – in addition to the Hoy Spirit that has been
given to them.

Thoughts for Today:

First Thought:

Notice
that the beginning of our passage for the day is “Peter and the other apostles.” Yes, Peter is given specific name – after all,
Peter does mean “rock” and he does become the cornerstone of the early
church. But what this passage is showing
us is the unified position of the apostles.
(Remember unified doesn’t mean they are clones of each other, just
individuals coming together for the purpose of asserting a single point.) The apostles support one another
publically. They back each other theologically. There is an attitude of “I can rely upon my
spiritual brothers and sisters.”

How
important is it to have some people you can rely upon when making a theological
stand in this world? Do you have a group
like this that you can rely upon?

Second Thought:

The
opening line that the apostles assert is “We must obey God, not mankind.” This is such a powerful claim, and I give
credit to the apostles for laying it out there right up front. But you will notice that the claim is
specific. The obedience to God is
specifically in reference to the command from the Sanhedrin to not preach Jesus
publicly. Jesus told them to preach Him
publicly. They must obey God in this
aspect. They must be a witness to Jesus
Christ. That is the most important thing
in this life.

Are
you a witness to Jesus Christ? If so,
how do you do it? Could you be better at
it? How is being a witness to Christ an
act of obedience to God?

Third Thought:

I
see so many Christians abuse this verse.
They say “We must obey God, not man” just about anytime they want to get
away with doing things their way (or not doing them someone else’s way). That isn’t what this verse is trying to
imply. The apostles are saying that with
respect to obeying God instead of man, we must proclaim Christ publicly. So yeah, if you want to use this verse, you
had better be talking about it in terms of your public witness to Jesus Christ.

Why
do you think people are interested in doing things their way and not someone
else’s way? Why do people go through the
Bible looking for that one verse that proves their point and using it
regardless of what the rest of scripture says?